There are known in the prior art many forms of laser surgical and laser cautery devices which utilize the energy of a laser conducted through an optical or similar optical conduit to the side where it will be utilized for its intended purposes. As such instruments have become increasingly complex and miniaturized, it has become more difficult to deliver the laser beam energy into the optical fiber. And, as the laser devices have become more powerful, it has become apparent that misalignment of the laser and misdirection of the laser beam can have disastrous consequences for the surgical or cautery device.
Recently, surgical and cauterization devices have been developed which employ a plurality of optical fibers to deliver laser energy to an internal site, thus providing greater selectivity and control of the surgical or cauterization procedure. Considering the high cost of a medical laser, it is most economical to employ one laser, and shift the laser beam output selectively to the optical fibers to achieve the treatment effect that is desired. In modern optical fiber assemblies, the fiber itself may be only 100 microns or smaller. It is clear that the laser beam must be steered into the optical fibers accurately and reiteratively; a beam that is focused to a 100 micron spot is likely to cause damage or destruction to adjacent structures if it misses the intended optical fiber target end. Furthermore, the laser energy must be steered to the individual optical fibers with assurance that the amount of energy delivered to the surgical site is the proper amount for the intended treatment. Thus reliable reiteration of the beam shifting device is critically important. Unfortunately, there is no device known in the prior art capable of shifting the high power beam of a typical medical laser to a plurality of optical fibers with the required speed and reliability.